To provide resting or sleeping surfaces for infants or children, restraining walls or barriers are required to prevent the infant or child from moving off the surface. In the case of a crib, a small bed is provided with bars or netting surrounding the small bed to prevent falling off. For larger children, side rails or barriers can be attached to regular beds to prevent falling out.
There is a need for a practical child restrainer which is convenient and easy to use for day-to-day purposes. There is also a need for a child restrainer which can be easily transported and set up on any bed or resting surface for use when travelling with a child either long distance or within the same city just to visit friends.
In the prior art, a number of restrainers have been proposed. U.S. Pat. No. 5,103,514 describes an easily transportable utility pad for infants and toddlers which includes a filled, flexible, rectangular fabric tube surrounding an interior space for the infant. U.S. Pat. No. 5,115,524 describes a suitcase-style portable knock-down crib comprised of a single flat sheet of foldable material having an integrally formed rectangular base with side walls flexibly attached to the base. U.S. Pat. No. 3,708,808 describes an infant restrainer for placing on a bed which has a base and side walls associated with the base which are erected at opposite sides of the base to provide barriers against movement by the child. U.S. Pat. No. 5,076,546 describes a modular barrier and restraint for children or infants having several interchangeable panels which are interchangeable to provide different configurations including a four-walled rectangular configuration. U.S. Pat. No. 4,873,734 describes a sheet including four tubular pockets in which relatively soft yet form-retaining inserts are removably fitted to define a bumper area enclosing a sleeping or rest area within the confines of a crib, or on a bed. U.S. Pat. No. 3,844,471 describes a safety pad which can be used to prevent a baby from rolling off a supporting surface while feeding or washing the baby which comprises a padded sheet having sides and end extensions which are folded and interconnected to form lateral and end restraining means to define a rectangular resting area.
It has been found that the prior art collapsible child restrainers are not very easily or conveniently set up and collapsed for every day use. The prior art restrainers are either not very easy to transport from one place to another, or they are not easily set up and collapsed. And most importantly, the prior art restrainers are not easily adapted to be used for an infant restrainer in the configuration of a crib as well as to lateral restrainers of a greater length for one or both sides of a small child between the ages of 18 months to 4 years old.